Biography
Paula has worked in the field of sustainability for two decades. She began her career in academia with a PhD in climate chemistry from Oxford University. However, quickly realised she couldn’t spent her entire life in a darkened laboratory and so changed tack to concentrate on communicating environmental and scientific concepts to non-technical audiences.
Since then she has worked for environmental charities, within the public sector, in UK Government environmental departments: Defra and DECC, and for the Energy Saving Trust. In 2010 she set up her own research, training and advice agency focusing on environmental sustainability generally, and energy issues and carbon management in particular. She works with a range of clients, from blue chip corporates right through to arts organisations.
She is a published author, writing on the subject of energy and energy efficiency, and was the project manager for the award-winning Defra/Decc Act on CO2 carbon calculator. Her most recent book is titled ’how gamification can help your business engage in sustainability’.
She has become increasingly convinced that engaging the majority is vital if we are to make progress environmentally. In 2012, she was awarded a London Leaders for Sustainability position – a scheme run by the Mayor’s Office, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the London Sustainable Development Commission- to further her work in researching the power of fun and games to encourage sustainability. She is the founder and chief ‘fun & gamer’ in her new social enterprise company – eco action games – an initiative which re-imagines well-known games and gives them an environmental twist to help education, engage and engender behaviour change in wider society.